[#COBRACONNECT Challenge 4]

6 hours ago, fixyurdivot said:

Interesting. "Tour Length" shaft was never mentioned in my two driver fitting sessions. To the other testers, was that something that came up in your physical or by phone fittings?  Are any of you using a shorter than your gamer shaft length?

I played the Epic Flash at 45.5" until early this spring when I got frustrated and cut it down to 44.5".

I have another driver in my basement, a Cobra AMP, that has a shorter shaft in it. Always felt better than the Epic Flash. And, testing with my swing speed radar, I could swing it just as fast, if not faster.

I'm 5'11", but have long arms. My tendency is to stand a little close to the ball. The shorter length just feels a lot more comfortable to me.

Improvement in face contact has been incredible. (Epic Flash on top.)

[#COBRACONNECT Challenge 4]

I finally got around to measuring everything tonight, and I have to re-iterate how nice of a job Cobra's build team did hitting my requested specifications. Especially because I requested custom swingweight on every club.

Looks like only one small thing out of place. The shaft sticker on the 58 degree wedge is for a regular C-Taper X and not the C-Taper Lite X. Going off of feel and total weight, it's just the wrong label. Feels much too similar to the rest of the shafts to be a regular C-Taper. Easy fix - I'll just request a label from KBS and change it eventually.

[#COBRACONNECT Challenge 4]

2 hours ago, Sluggo42 said:

Alright Ladies~

What was your old driver, and is the new Cobra longer?

Callaway Epic Flash, HZRDUS Yellow 6.0, 10.5* turned to 9.5*, cut down to 44.5" and playing around D2 swingweight.

Small sample size, but on the screws I think the Epic Flash is slightly longer. But I'm squaring up the SpeedZone Xtreme so much better, offline shots seem to hold their line better and with better ball speed and less spin, and the sound is no comparison. Epic Flash had a notoriously unlikeable sound, but I didn't realize how bad it was until I hit the SpeedZone Xtreme.

1 hour ago, Lacassem said:

Interesting take on this I like it. What grind do you think you would have went with?

I probably would have done like @B.Boston and put one of each grind in the bag, or at least had the low bounce option in either the 56 or 60.

4 minutes ago, Nunfa0 said:

Interesting stuff here, having this experience with the hybrid would you now consider getting a one length hybrid?

Maybe! The idea of chopping the hybrid down to match iron shaft lengths really comes from what I did with my Cobra F8 hybrid that I use with my Maltby PTMs. The SteelFiber I have in it is an iron shaft, tipped trim to match the weight of the head, and cut to a 4 iron length. It fit my gapping extremely well, and I could launch it really easily.

30 minutes ago, Lacassem said:

Mookie can have his money. They’ll be screeed year 6-13

Exhibit A: Miguel Cabrera.

[#COBRACONNECT Challenge 4]

17 minutes ago, russtopherb said:

OK competitors, here's a curveball right out of the gate. We all know that not every set is 100% perfect when we first get it, since there's usually a slight adjustment period. So as of right now (and yes it's still early), what about your set didn't jump out right away to you? Or maybe what isn't fitting your eye... yet? Could be looks, could be comfort, could be performance... ? Did you opt for something in your setup that maybe you're slightly second guessing?

 

I'm not convinced the 2 hybrid, 4 iron setup was the way to go, even if the gapping looked right on Trackman. I should have pushed back on my fitter a little bit with that. I could grow into that setup, but for now I am almost never going to pull the hybrid because I just don't play a ton of courses where those lengths are going to be useful. Most courses I play are not going to be longer than 6,200-6,300 yards. That is partly because of my skill level off the tee (erratic is putting it nicely) and partly because there are not a ton in the area that have tees in the 6,400-6,600 range, which is probably the max I'd feel comfortable playing with some enjoyment and chances to score. Heck, there are a ton of courses in this area that are shorter than 6,000 yards from the back-most tees.

Playing at my current course, I will never have a chance to use the 2 hybrid, unless I either purposely play other shots short, or if I absolutely wallop a drive 285-290 yards slightly uphill on the par 5 on the back I might be able able to go for the green in two with either the hybrid or 3 wood. That hasn't happened once in almost 75 rounds at this course.

I think I could have gone with a 19 degree hybrid chopped down slightly in length to keep it in line distance-wise with the 5 iron, removed the 4 iron, and then added an additional wedge at the bottom end of my bag to tighten up the gapping down there and provide an additional bounce option.

[#COBRACONNECT Challenge 4]

18 hours ago, Lacassem said:

I am curious how many rounds are you guys thinking you’ll get in per week at this time?

Missed this with everyone beating down @GB13.

Minimum two, hopefully three rounds of 18 throughout the challenge. COVID has actually freed up my schedule a little bit, which is good, but the downside is that my course is also much busier than normal, so I can't just show up and walk on anytime of the day anymore.

I do have some vacation hours to burn, so I'm hoping to supplement a few rounds here or there on days I wouldn't normally play.

[#COBRACONNECT Challenge 4]

1 minute ago, mikeanthony said:

Testers! 🗣

Thus far, what is (and it can only be ☝) your favorite club within your bag amongst your Cobra set ... it can even be a specific iron. 

58 degree wedge. 

I had been playing a much wider-soled Maltby 60 degree wedge, thinking that the wider sole would be more useful out of rough. Not the case at all. The versatile grind on the wedge is great for hitting little high flops and I've been way more successful out of the sand with it as well. Helps that I also have these wedges 3 degrees flat, so they are better for my swing.

[#COBRACONNECT Challenge 4]

2 hours ago, GB13 said:

Not even creative enough to come up with your own response there @CalvesLikeChesson, you had to copy @cuethesubmarines response. How sad!! 

What you think:

In reality so far:

[#COBRACONNECT Challenge 4]

25 minutes ago, GB13 said:

I’m pretty sure all of my fellow competitors didn’t get their hashtags quite right. I think they should be:

@B.Boston #cuethesubmarines cause he’ll be diving down this leaderboard

@daviddvm #TeamCobraFifth

@edingc #CalvesLikeChesson 

@Headhammer #headcase cause we all know he won’t be able to get out of his own head.

And obviously my #VenomSpitter was dead on...

[edingc's Work In Progress]

Another lesson in the books. It was actually really nice because I had a load of Arccos data from #CobraConnect to talk with my instructor about. Leading up to my lesson, we had exchanged texts about using my hour to work on putting because I average quite a few putts per round. But after looking at my Arccos stats, the issue isn't necessarily my putting, but rather my proximity to the hole on approach shots. 

So, we spent the lesson working with irons again continuing to sort out some of the problems I've been having. My biggest issue is pulling across the ball, which leads to pulls and pull hooks when I keep the face square or closed or weak fades when I compensate by opening the face. During my round yesterday morning, I actually pull hooked a 5-iron out of bounds off the tee which really hurt my score.

My coach has me integrating the Justin Rose pump drill as part of my pre-shot routine (allowing hands to drop some before rotating), and we also tweaked my right hand grip, moving my thumb on top of the grip to give my arms/club more structure at the top. I previously had my right thumb wrapped around the shaft (facing more toward my target), which caused a lot of instability at the top of the backswing.

My coach sent me a lesson recap video and, honestly, I don't recognize the swing. Unbelievable amount of progress in eight months.

 

[How'd you play?]

- 40/44 = 84 / 83 ESC (+12)
- 5/15 FIR
- 9/18 GIR (1 birdie)
- 36 Putts (3 3-putts, 12 2-putts, 3 1-putts)

Put up a reasonably good score considering the three three-putts and also that I put two triple bogies on the card. Hit ball OB left off tee on No. 13 and then hit what should have been an easy layup shot into the water on No. 14, and those ultimately killed the score.

Just need remove the really bad holes now. Two of the three-putts were on par 3s after hitting the green, too. 

So close to clicking. I can feel it. (Famous last words...)

[#COBRACONNECT Challenge 4]

37 minutes ago, yungkory said:

That's interesting because I felt that Flash was one of the best drivers for off-center contact. When I'm not swinging my best I'm hitting it in the heel (probably because my swing is like 8* in to out on these days) and felt like Flash performed very well, as we saw in the review. I might have to throw an Xtreme in the bag for a test drive ;). Or maybe I'll seek advice from @B.Boston on how to rig the grand prize giveaway so I can get one for free?

My worst swings are around 2-4* out-to-in, with my good swings probably very neutral, so we might be comparing apples to oranges. Another thing is that I am finding "near center" a whole lot more with the Xtreme than than Flash as well, so my miss pattern is more tightly grouped around the middle of the face causing fewer gear effect issues. With the Flash I really struggled with a ton of heeled shots and shots struck very low on the face. In fact, I've actually gone to a shorter tee with the Xtreme because the tee height I used with the Flash to find the center was way too tall for the Xtreme.

For reference, this was a good handful of balls at my first range session. I still had several bad hits from the face being open, but in general strike location has improved considerably from the Epic Flash (pictured beneath):

[#COBRACONNECT Challenge 4]

5 minutes ago, golfish! said:

@edingc you mentioned off center hits. Are you seeing shredded ball covers on off center hits? Recently bought an F8 driver for my mom and she complained about off center hits shredding the covers on her balls ( i had to sit and think about how that sentence was going to look and if i was setting myself up for failure but there is really no other way to put it...xP) I did see on other forums that this was an issue for all the new CNC milled face drivers from Cobra

I haven't noticed it, though for two of the three rounds so far I've used the Srixon Z-Star XVs, which may be the ball with the most durable cover I've ever played.

Next round I'll try a few new Snell MTB-Xs and see what happens. Great balls, but I've noticed the covers scuff much more easily.

[#COBRACONNECT Challenge 4]

4 minutes ago, goaliewales14 said:

Question for the testers...As you are starting to get a few rounds under your belt with the new clubs, and work through the honeymoon phase, do you think there is another club out there that would have performed better for you?  Example being do you think the SIM driver would out perform your Cobra? 

I'll quickly touch on the driver specifically because I don't have a lot experience with other clubs from the last few release cycles. I do want to be fair in my assessment and put a disclaimer on my thoughts. The fit for my driver and wedges for this challenge is incredibly better than what I was playing previously. Wedges are three degrees flatter than I was playing, and because I've made some progress with my swing, the driver shaft is leading to a much better experience for me.

That being said...

I haven't hit any other current year drivers, but in comparison to my Callaway Epic Flash, the thing that sticks out to me about the SpeedZone Xtreme is ball speed retention and forgiveness across the face. The Epic Flash is just as long (and honestly might be a touch longer when hit on the screws), but my mishits with the Xtreme go farther and stay online better. Also, as I mentioned above, I am getting along very well with the Aldila Rogue Silver 60 (110 MSI). I am hitting a ton of balls out of the center of the club face now, most of mishits are the result of leaving the face open and not strike location.

I do wonder what a Rogue Silver in the Epic Flash would produce...

 

[#COBRACONNECT Challenge 4]

1 minute ago, yungkory said:

Lowest ever arccos handicap right out of the gate! 2:25 pace of play? Is this guy even human? I think you guys picked the wrong dude not rocking with my man @edingc!!

Could probably do it in 2 flat if my driver would behave... 

Honestly, though, I think 2:10 is my record. 

Happy to have you aboard! Your old putter has been very, very good to me (three-putts aside, which I assure you is all me).

[#COBRACONNECT Challenge 4]

Roller coaster first official round this morning, with two 3-putts and two triple bogies leading to an 84. 

Did catch my drive on No. 17 just perfectly, however.

The SpeedZone long irons are so easy to hit, and they go a mile with a ton of height. On No. 9 today I hit a 5-iron off the tee because, "There's no way that sand is anywhere near in play with this club," and 210 yards uphill later I nearly ran it into the bunker...

[#COBRACONNECT Challenge 4]

4 hours ago, sirchunksalot said:

I want to hear what your looking to gain from these amazing clubs.

This will get covered later in the review in more depth, but I want to see what, if any, benefit there is to me playing what I would classify as a super game improvement iron. Will I give up anything coming from my much smaller forged Maltbys?

[#COBRACONNECT Challenge 4]

15 minutes ago, Peaksy68 said:

What fitting process did you guys all undertake? It might be in there somewhere, but I can't see past the memes  Interested to see not a lot of love for 5 woods, so far @daviddvm seems to be the only one, @GB13 might add on to the mix. This alone may cause me to throw my support behind @daviddvm, but I'm open to bribery, and susceptible to coercion.

My fitting experience is here:

Due to supply chain issues with COVID, I ended up with X-stiff C-Taper Lites instead of stiff, and Cobra bumped the older KING Black wedges up to the new KING MIM Black.

[#COBRACONNECT Challenge 4]

@B.Boston - What'd you have to pay your kids off with for that photo op? 

[#COBRACONNECT Challenge 4]

Alright, folks, we're off! My intro post is up!

Don't forget to vote! (Well, forget to vote if you're not voting for me... ).

[2020 Official Member Review: Ben Hogan Icon & PTX Pro/Icon Combo Irons]

21 hours ago, deejaid said:

 

 

Well, as a storyteller I wanted to try to make the review interesting. Truth be told, most of the reviews here on MGS aren’t very interesting and don’t connect with me. Most guys get a free set of clubs custom to their specs and rave about how good the clubs are without much or any negatives. That’s not to say that the reviewers do a bad job. I think the reviewers do a great job most of the time. But there needs to be some conflict in the review. The second act of the story needs to have some struggle for the final act to resolve with a good ending.

I could have got the Tour V shafts right away and been happy, but would that have helped the guy out there who like me is on the fence about whether or not they should switch to graphite for the first time? Not at all. Hopefully that guy will see the pluses and potential minuses of switching to a much lighter graphite shaft in my review without making a $800 purchase they later regret.

I view these reviews not as a free set of clubs built to my specs for everyone to read how much I love them, but as a way to take some chances at no cost and note both the good and bad so that other MGS Spies can be better informed when making their purchase.



I’ll try your idea of addressing the ball more towards the hosel, maybe that will work. But to me that seems to be a bandaid to use a shaft that doesn’t work instead of fixing the problem with a reshaft.




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

 

@deejaid - Been so busy over on #CCC4 that I missed your very awesome video work. Looking great! 

Enjoying this thread a lot now that I've caught up on it again. I agree, it's very telling that several of you have already made changes or are thinking of changes to your setup. One of the things I had noticed about Hogan versus say, Sub70, is that they truly are very limited in available options. I know Hogans are available through Club Champion now, which does greatly add to those shaft and grip options, but working with Club Champion will considerably drive up the cost beyond most major OEMs. Defeats the purpose of DTC, in my mind.

[#COBRACONNECT Challenge 4]

18 minutes ago, B.Boston said:

I’m really liking it. Walked 9 with it today on a Caddytec Caddylite EZ v8. It was. A great match. And the backpack straps unclip super easy. So they stayed in the trunk so everything is clear and accessible.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Looking sharp with the CaddyTek! Looks strangely similar to someone else in this challenge...

[#COBRACONNECT Challenge 4]

1 hour ago, fozcycle said:

 

Now this guy is motivated! btw, I have the same cap, won it in the CCC2.

 

 

 

Note: edingc’s “P” is backwards on his cap....LOL

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using MyGolfSpy

Cobra King F8(10.5*) w/ Mitdubishi Tense ck Blue Regular; 3W & 5W Cobra King F8 w/ Mitsubishi Tense ck Blue Regular shafts; Tour Edge CBX119 22* Hybrid w/Project X Evenflo Regular shaft; Wilson Staff D-7 5-PW + GW + SW w/UST Mamiya Recoil 460 Regular graphite shafts; Cobra King F8 LW(58*) w/UST Mamiya Recoil 460 ES regular shafts.Putter: Bellum Winmore 707; Bag: Cobra Ultralight Cart bag, Peaccoat Blue.

Won mine last year in #CCC3! 

I was using the front-facing camera on my phone. I assure you the P is all good .

[How'd you play?]

34 minutes ago, B.Boston said:

We all have those rounds. I’m glad you got it out of the way now though. The competition will be much more fun if we’re playing at our best!

5 pars to start is awesome! And so is getting along with the irons so quickly. The driver will come around Quickly I’m sure.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just gotta dial in those iron distances!

(Also, playing with a gap from 48 to 58 isn't ideal, either .)

[How'd you play?]

- 42/43 = 85 (+13)
- 7/15 FIR
- 6/18 GIR
- 31 Putts (1 4-putt, 1 3-putt, 9 2-putts, 6 1-putts, 1 chip-in)

Funny, I struck my irons really well today, chipped wonderfully, but just had a couple blow up holes that I had been previously avoiding.

First real round with the #CobraConnect stuff and I was happy to get the irons sorted out. Hit some monsters off the tee with the long irons. Struggled a bit with the driver (some skied ones), I think I need to switch back to a shorter tee. Distances are still something I'm sorting out as well as they are definitely longer than my Maltby PTMs.

After opening with five pars, I double-bogeyed the par 3 No. 6 hole with a four (!!!!) putt because I just flat out lost my focus after hitting the green from the tee. Doubled No. 7 as well with an awful drive that nearly went two fairways over, and then on the back had another double bogey on the par 3 12th (hit 9 iron over green), a really bad three-putt for bogey on No. 14 from less than 30 feet away and then a triple bogey on No. 16 after a skied drive, a poor hybrid shot and two wedges that cleared the green in both directions. Whoops.

[#COBRACONNECT Challenge 4]

2 hours ago, fixyurdivot said:

The prism looking top rail is about the only knock on looks for my taste - otherwise really nice.

 

Pictures make the carbon fiber look different than it does in person. You really don't notice it. At least for me, I notice the back of the club more than I notice the carbon fiber.